NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage's Midstream Services confirmed ExxonMobil Corp. subsidiary XTO Energy Inc. as the anchor producer of its Western Pennsylvania natural gas pipeline project, Big Pine Gathering System. The project includes installation, refurbishment, and operation of 70 miles of pipeline facilities in the hydrocarbon-rich Western Pennsylvania shale production region, including Allegheny, Butler, Armstrong, Indiana, and Westmoreland counties.
NiSource expects BPGS to provide an initial 425 MMcfd of gas capacity, with interconnects to its own Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline system, as well as Texas Eastern Transmission and Dominion Transmission. NiSource also is discussing long-term commitments to the project with other producers.
BPGS pipeline facilities will cost $150 million. NiSource has begun community outreach, as well as preliminary preparation and right-of-way clearing. The company expects to begin building in late summer and to put the line in service by yearend.
NiSource last month announced plans to build a roughly 90-mile, large-diameter natural gas gathering system in the Utica shale (OGJ Online, Mar. 2, 2012).
Contact Christopher E. Smith at [email protected].